Rob Nance and the Lost Souls set to perform Saturday at French Broad Brewery

Wednesday

Jun 18, 2014 at 12:38 PM

Rob Nance left Appalachian State University after studying international politics and took a very non-political job.

By JASON GILMER For 85-26.com

Rob Nance left Appalachian State University after studying international politics and took a very non-political job.

He played in a few bands during college and decided to keep on playing music.

"I'm probably, sadly enough, making more money now than I would with that degree," said Nance, who grew up in Spruce Pine, N.C.

The acoustic-based Americana/folk singer-songwriter brings his tunes to the French Broad Brewery in Asheville, N.C., for a 6 p.m. show on Saturday.

Music wasn't just a fall back for Nance after college as he'd thought of using his guitar skills for a job before.

"When I got out of school, it was rough times for the job market," he said. "It was always in my mind that I wanted to play music for a while and see how that went. I noticed, at some point, that music was the main thing I was doing and decided to keep it going."

He released an EP in 2012 ("Wake Up and Smile"), a full-length record in 2013 ("Lost Souls and Locked Doors") and another EP in February ("Sycamore").

When he plays Asheville, he'll be backed by his brother, Jordan, on upright bass. The two have toured together for a while (sometimes they add a drummer or keyboardist to the mix) and, last year, did a month-long stint through Texas and Colorado.

"It's interesting," Nance said of the sibling-working relationship. "You feel like you have the ability to say what needs to be said for better or worse. You don't have to tiptoe around each other and that affords you a certain amount of honesty and openness. For the most part, that's been fine."

Nance's latest batch of songs was recorded using a different process from his first two records.

"I did it all myself from the recording to the mixing, and that was the first time I'd done that completely on my own," he said. "There was a steep learning curve but it was a lot of fun. "I think the main thing that I learned is that a lot of the technical aspects of recording and mixing are open to interoperation. There are some standard procedures that you can follow. As far as a set way, you can really take things from a technical perspective in different directions."

What Nance delivered is a five-song set of well-crafted songs, with his voice and guitar work at the forefront.

He grew up listening to Elvis Presley and Doc Watson, and his lyrics have a Southern vibe.

"I think a lot of (my songwriting) is loosely based around North Carolina and the South, which is normal considering it's where I grew up and lived my whole life," he said. "A lot of the types of music I listen to (have their) roots in Southern music. It's not a conscience thing to write about it; it's a natural way of writing for me."

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